case, they may enhance parents’ status because parenthood is thought to establish parents as truly mature, stable, and acceptable members of adult community.
Parents who have children will be considered as having higher social status in their community because being parents is regarded as prestigious and needs great
responsibility.
2.1.5.2 Three Principal Parent Variables
Medinnus and Johnson 347 state that there are three principal parent variables, which are parent is personality, attitudes, and behavior. The first
variable is parent’s personality that influences personality development of their child. It is because parents unconsciously teach character’s trait, values, and
attitudes to their children. The result of the influence can be good or bad to the children, depending on how they receive it.
The second variable concerns parent’s attitudes. How the adult understanding of the parental role in relation to the child influences his attitudes as
a parent. The conception of these responsibilities, functions, and obligations of a role create the individual’s attitudes. Further, the interest of the child psychologist
in parental attitude stems, therefore, from the notion that a basic, underlying attitude influences many behaviors of parenthood that are assumed to affect the
personality development of the child. Medinnus and Johnson 349. The third variable is parent’s behavior. At this point, there are many
aspects to learn in exploring the characteristics that describe the general behavioral atmosphere of the home. Two characteristics which usually emerge are
acceptance versus rejection and autonomy versus control. Theoretically, the psychological atmosphere of a home may fall into any of the four quadrants, each
of which represents one of four general combinations: acceptance-autonomy, acceptance-control, rejection-autonomy, and rejection-control Medinnus and
Johnson 356.
2.1.5.3 Three Factors in Parent-Child Relationships
There are three factors in parent-child relationships. Those factors are perception of parents, discipline, and parent attitudes. Each part will be explained
briefly below. The first factor is perception of parents. Commonly, children’s tendency in
perceiving their parents is negative. As a result, there is not so much to say about the child’s perception and interpretation of their parents. It causes children to view
all of his interpersonal relations negatively, including their relationships with their parents. Their negative perceptions of their parents also produce their poor
adjustments. Second, the young child is not a very reliable informant, not through any desire to deceive, but through inability to express himself adequately in his
early years Medinnus and Johnson 375. The second variable is identification. Even though the concept of
identification has been used in many ways with a host of meanings, Sanford states that identification is the process by which an individual incorporates certain
aspects of someone else’s behavior, attitudes, and characteristics. Identification may occur at the unconscious level. The discussion of identification in the young
child primarily concerns his identification with sex role, the process of developing characteristics similar to those of the parent of the same sex. However, numerous
characteristics seem to emerge from this process. Aggressive behavior, behavior
and attitudes toward others, leisure-time pursuits, are the results of children’s identification with the parents in early years 383.
The third factor is discipline. The measurement of the effects of discipline the independent variables on the child’s behavior and attitudes the dependent
variables would be full of uncertainty. Moreover, it is clear that the effects of discipline depend upon the emotional context in which it is directed Medinnus
and Johnson 383.
2.1.6 Power and Parent-Child Relationships
Noller in her book Communication in Family Relationships 135-136 states that in parent-child relationship, parents are supposed to be in control of
families and responsible for their children’s behavior. Parents vary in the extent to which they exercise power over their children. There are three basic styles of
parenting. They are: 2.1.6.1 The Authoritarian Parent
The authoritarian parents emphasize that children should obey them and punish children if they do something wrong. This kind of parents do not
encourage their children, believing that the children should accept the parents’ word for what is right.
2.1.6.2 The Authoritative parent The authoritative parents direct the activities of the child, while at the
same time they let their children to find their own talents and creativities. These parents encourage and share with the children about the family rules and the
reasons to obey them. They are careful in controlling their children and tend to persuade in getting the children’s cooperation.
